Missing for 50 years - US nuclear bomb (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Gerry Northam
BBC Radio 4

More than 50 years after a 7,600lb (3,500kg) nuclear bomb was dropped in US waters following a mid-air military collision, the question of whether the missing weapon still poses a threat remains.

In his own mind, retired 87-year-old Colonel Howard Richardson is a hero responsible for one of the most extraordinary displays of aeronautic skill in the history of the US Air Force.

His view carries a lot of weight and he has a large number of supporters - including the Air Force itself which honoured his feat with a Distinguished Flying Cross.

But to others, he is little short of a villain: the man who 50 years ago dropped a nuclear bomb in US waters, a bomb nobody has been able to find and make safe.
***
more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8107908.stm

[conscious evolution]

1. I grew up on Warsaw Sound

wher he dropped that nuke.
It still blows me a way that they have not found it yet.
How hard can it be to ride around in a boat with a gieger counter?

[RC]

2. It doesn't work that way.

The radioactivity is practically nil, then you put several hundred feet or more of relatively dense water between it and you...

[conscious evolution]

3. Warsaw Sound is ,maybe,at most,50' deep

You don't hit water deeper then a hundred feet till you are about 30 miles off the coast.

[armyowalgreens]

6. You only need a relatively thin layer of water to protect against radioactivity

50 feet of water should be plenty.

I'm pretty sure reactor cores have shallower water than that. And those are completely exposed.



A nuclear bomb is constructed to contain radioactivity until detonation.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. I'd also imagine that bomb casing would be reasonably effective.

[armyowalgreens]

8. yeah I edited my post for truthiness.

[conscious evolution]

9. I hope so

Thing is,I have seen way to many articles here and there that say the US has some damned good means of detecting radioactivity.You would think one of them would have apotted it by now.

[armyowalgreens]

11. You can detect radioactivity basically anywhere you go...

All it's measuring is the decay of certain elements that can be found in nature.

If you walked around with a Geiger counter, I can say with certainty, it would show radioactivity in places you wouldn't expect.


So if you start going around the sound, and the Geiger counter detects radioactivity, that could simply be from natural decay.

However, I'm surprised they haven't attempted to use sonar or dive teams to find it.

[conscious evolution]

12. Divers would never locate it

The water there has zero visibility due to the rough current and treacherous breakers.
When I say rough I mean it.The locals call the area Hells Gate.
Sonar would have a rough time also.Many,many small craft have been sunk there trying to get thru to the ocean.The currents also change the channels and sand bars prettty quickly.Not having accurate maps of the floor would make the job a lot tougher.

[whatwasthequestion]

14. And dropping into sand

and water from 20,000 feet, it probably buried a couple of hundred feet into the sand and muck. Or would the casing have shattered from that altitude, smashing all the parts to smithereens? Isn't the surface tension from lower than 100 feet comparable hitting concrete? Nukes are made for air burst for maximum destruction-unlike todays "bunkerbusters"-, so with total destruction on impact and less ability to measure radioactivity 50 years ago, is it already gone?

[Thothmes]

10. The shielding around a nuclear warhead

is very good. On the ship, we were allowed to be in close proximity to live warheads without any special precautions, no dosimeters etc.

[old mark]

4. Shit, it's around someplace.........

Probably not working very well anymore anyhow.

mark

[Duer 157099]

5. Said Colonel Howard Richardson: "I haven't dropped any bombs in 50 years!"

Keeping us safe, one bomb at a time.

Doesn't it sound like something Bush would say?

[Deja Q]

13. Why would the BBC, of all people, drop the bomb on this?